All Christine Stewart wants is a relaxing vacation on the beautiful Greek island of Corfu. Then she meets nine-year-old Michael Redfield and saves him from being crushed by a falling piece of Byzantine stone.

Invited to spend the rest of her holiday at the luxurious villa where Michael is staying with his family, Christine soon realizes something is wrong with the Redfield clan.

Michael’s stepmother is openly hostile, her brother is charmingly seductive, and Michael’s handsome uncle seems obsessed with the death of his brother–Michael’s father.

Christine has no desire to become even more deeply embroiled in the family’s problems, but how can she abandon Michael when she learns he is the pawn in a nasty custody battle…and the target of a killer?

Here are five short stories by an author who usually writes crime fiction. Though inspired by personal experiences, they are fiction, filled with lies, and unlikely tales (mostly). All are intended to be humorous or satirical.

In The Savage Hogs, Eli is a misbegotten, gentle young man often mistreated by others. He eventually finds fulfillment in The Savage Hogs, an outlaw motorcycle club. There he meets a girlfriend, Lulu, and participates in wholesome club activities such as road trips to little towns for weekends in bars, brawling with rivals, and terrorizing citizens.

In Einsteins, George panics when the Department of Motor Vehicles rescinds his PhD, thus threatening his college teaching career. He agrees to participate in a six-week program to reinstate his degree, and soon finds himself on a bus with other defrocked academics headed into the unknown. Guess what happens next.

In TurboCognition, two young engineers, an intuitive reader, and a tyrannical neuroscientist develop a gizmo called HB2P to enhance human cognition. An amorous relationship between one engineer and the intuitive reader complicates matters.

In Close Encounters, the Uranian spaceship does not make first contact on schedule. A skeptical reporter named Danny investigates, finds evidence of UFO fakery, and has a close personal encounter with a ditzy chick named Koko. Koko disappears, apparently abducted by aliens. When another spaceship landing is predicted, Danny rushes to the scene.

In Pink Flamingos, Fred falls in love with Wolves after seeing movies and TV documentaries depicting their beauty, nobility, and complex social behavior. He brings a three-quarter wolf hybrid into his home, and complications ensue, one involving pink flamingos.

Lightning in the middle of a blizzard? Dr. Sydney Blake has read about it, but this is the first time in all her life she’s experienced it. Has her truck been struck? Blinded by the flash, she slams on the brakes and dives from the driver’s seat, right into a snow drift.

As a shivering Syd gropes to her feet, she keeps her eyes shut tight, praying she didn’t actually see what she thinks she saw in that flash of light… a golden giant standing smack dab in the middle of the road. No way. Not possible. Or is it?

In The Flesh is Book Two of The Soul Series. It is the sequel to Incorporeal.

A story of passion, intrigue and the fight to defend the land they love. This historical novel depicts the hard fought battles for control of the crucial waterways of the Tennessee River Valley and the South’s Heartland. Flush with its first major victories, the Union Army would find itself woefully unprepared to care for the thousands of prisoners captured on the field of battle.

The Confederate prisoners of war faced an enemy just as deadly as rifles and artillery. They faced the brutal hell of Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois, where over 6,000 would meet their end in the harshest conditions devised by their fellow Americans. The two-fold tragedy is first, that it happened and second, so few of us even know it occurred.

“Welcome to Westen. I’m Lorna Doone. Yep, spelled just like the cookie and just as sweet. I own the Peaches ‘N Cream Cafe, the center of all social get-togethers and gossip here in our small town. You might think nothing much happens in a small mid-western town, but as my friend Harriett says, things aren’t always what they appear. Romance and suspense can happen almost anywhere and to anyone. Take our girl Emma for example…”

Emma Lewis has a lot on her plate. As a single mother trying to raise two precocious twin boys, she works two jobs to make ends meet while also caring for an aging mother who is having trouble getting through each day. Having faced one scandal nearly seven years ago, the last thing Emma needs is adventure, romance or a man in her life, especially a wickedly sexy doctor. Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.

So when the small town’s only doctor goes on vacation and his handsome nephew takes over, Emma is shocked to not only find the man she once had a teenage crush on standing in her bedroom, but suddenly he’s accusing her of being a neglectful parent. Despite what the arrogant man may think, she’ll do anything to protect her sons, even from his so-called good intentions.